Human Traffickers Prey On Vulnerable In Thailand

[mark45y]

When you are reading stories and posts about news topics it is best to ask some basic questions, who, what, where, when, why and how.

Just a little bit of critical thinking could turn the posts from laughable gibberish into something meaningful.

[ladyboy butterfly]

Hate to break it to you but the ones you say are doing it on their own free will probably are not. Look into any Bar-girls life and you will find sadness and despair. Every prostitute is some mans daughter or son.

This article is about human trafficking scum, not prostitution. i think it's fairly common knowledge that 99.9%+ of your "sex tourists" are only looking for girls who are both of legal age AND doing the job of their own free will. further, i think it also common knowledge that the trafficked and/or under-age girls are almost exclusively for the local Thai men. next time you're talking to one of these "sad" bar girls, ask her- they all know. as to what you said...

the quoted text is clearly spoken by someone who is forming his opinions from things he has read rather than opening his eyes.

as someone who was naive and stupid enough to fall for a girl he met in a disco (read: freelance prostitute, as i NOW fully understand), went to her hometown twice to be with her family and seeing the life of her friends firsthand, let me enlighten you:

we "dated" (read: i was used like an ATM) for 6 months. i got to know a couple dozen of her friends who are all sex workers to varying degrees- be it bar girls, freelancers and even a few who now hold jobs but go with guys now and again when the price is right. here is REALITY:

ALL of these girls were/are doing it for the money. PERIOD. they didn't start out of despair. they started because it was easy money. 6000 baht/month to work 6 days per week and have little spending money or.... 1500 baht minimum for usually less than an hour. all of her friends make very good money. i'd say ALL make over 20,000 bt/month and some make WELL north of that. i saw girls make 10,000, 20,000 even 50,000bt over just a few days. i know because i saw what they do with it- they party. sure, money gets sent home. the myth that all these girls send all the money home is laughable. they blow most of it. expensive phones, clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry and, mostly, partying. go into one of the clubs and see the 5 or 6 girls at a table buying bottles of whiskey along with their beers. if there isn't a guy to buy it, they do. one night between 5 girls they spent over 60,000 bt just drinking- i was there, i know.

all the money and the lifestyle is intoxicating. it is ALL about the money, partying and living the rock star life. they could save the money and be out of the business fast. instead, nearly all blow everything they make because they know all they need to do is smile at a guy and feed his ego a little and they'll have more money. they think nothing of lying to someone to get money. they manipulate lonely guys into thinking they are exactly what this poster described. they do it because it works! so the guy supports them and they eventually break his heart. the lack of a moral compass on these girls is truly incredible. anything for money is justified and met with high 5's from friends. they will take the van home for 1 day to do a video chat with their "boyfriend" so he can see she's being a good girl back home. they'll take a bunch of pictures all in that one day in many different clothes and hair styles and then send them periodically to their tilac saying they were taken that day- all the while back in bangkok going with "customers" every day. when/if the guy finds out- they don't feel bad for breaking the guy's heart, they feel bad that they got caught and need to replace the revenue stream. cold-hearted comes to mind. as for the men- yeah, some lie to the girls too. never seen a situation where the girl wasn't working him and lying more.

yes, some have a baby they have to support. BUT... all that i met were having sex for money BEFORE they got pregnant. the worst thing i've seen is the ones who have a baby that mom is taking care of. many of these girls completely use their child as a marketing tool. they show pics of the child on their phone to their "customers" and say "anything for my baby. my baby needs food. my baby is sick. etc etc". they do it because it works. us western guys are a sucker for the poor girls whose terrible bf got her pregnant and now she is having sex with men to take care of her baby because she has no choice. or, as she will say, "what can i do? i have to take care my baby". so the hapless guy (read: me and countless fool like me) will give her more money that she'll use to go party. many of these girls PREFER mom taking care of their kid because the alternative is them living in their boring Isaan town raising a kid- no excitement, no parties, no rockstar lifestyle. 8-10,000 bt will get sent home each month and 20,000 or more will be spent living the lifestyle THEY CHOOSE.

further, mom and dad DO know what she does for money. she will tell you they think she is a waitress, nail salon, whatever. get to know her and she'll tell you her parents are not stupid and they know. Further, her father (you know, the one whose daughter is doing this as you point out) not only knows, he likes the money and spends it gambling and drinking with no cares as to what his daughter does for the money. btw, if she has an idiot supporting her (read: ME), she will lie to her parents about the amount of support and, if they're getting less than before, they'll want her to go back to full time prostitution to get more money. it's truly an amazing shock thru these western eyes. Thai people are not so stupid and naive like people like u think they are. THEY KNOW.

next time you read despair and sadness from a bar girl's eyes, maybe contemplate that they are better actresses and liars than your abilities to perceive can detect.

Edited July 30, 2010 by ladyboy butterfly

[james24]

I think its worth mentioning that its not just women that are trafficked, men are also enslaved and its not just the sex trade they are enslaved into.

toWhat is promising is that the amount of support people have shown on here to combat this trade. Perhaps we can really do something together.....

[ladyboy butterfly]

I think its worth mentioning that its not just women that are trafficked, men are also enslaved and its not just the sex trade they are enslaved into.

toWhat is promising is that the amount of support people have shown on here to combat this trade. Perhaps we can really do something together.....

yeah, my understanding is that the majority of this type of trafficked forced slave labour is men and older boys in the fishing and other hard labour type jobs. it is also my understanding that this is well known by the government but the industry is too important and it's too difficult to find Thai's to do this very grueling work, so the govt. turns a blind eye (or officials are paid off).

it's beyond my understanding how people can treat other human beings as slaves- be it the buyers, the sellers or the direct exploiters.

[moetownblues]

Are they going to start cracking down on the American Missionaries duping parents into giving up their children? They are the biggest human traffickers of all. Just ask the Ahkas.

well said

[keith7777]

This sort of thing has been the way we humans have been treating each other since the dawn of our species.

While I personally disagree with it, very strongly, it is not my country, and not my right to criticise how they handle it.

While I agree with leemac about this situation, how about the scavengers who write about it and make massive amounts of money to report this. Sure when they catch these parasites they should hang them high. I just have a problem with the people who lie about the problem when they report it. Don't think that Thailand is the only place that this is going on. It is going on in America, Brition, Germany, and a great many other places, but it seems that Thailand is the target of the these swirls. Go some place else for a change for your parasitic fantasies about the worlds oldest trade. Give Thailand a break. dah

[dom samui]

Lot of interesting here for those who...

Institute of Asian Studies Chulalongkorn University

TRAFFICKING FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

INTO SOUTHERN THAILAND

http://www.childtrafficking.com/Docs/tra_sexual_thailand_0708.pdf

[hammered]

I know of a family in Chaing Rai who wanted to sell their granddaughter when she finished P6. The childs parents had both been killed in an accident and she was parentless and the grandparents saw her as an unnecessary burden. Luckliy for the girl her sister dropped out of university and got a job and refused to let her sister go anywhere near Chiang Rai. This was only about 5-6 years ago. When discussing this with family members in the lower north at this time they reckoned that it was still happening in some rural areas of the upper north but had been gone for ages in the lower north and most of the rest of the country. It used to (before this case by some time) be something that local school teachers were very much aware of in rural CR and CM that when kids finished P6 they could often have a difficult future. The raising of leaving age to M3 and the better communications with these areas saw it decrease.

[crazydrummerpauly]

Thai society is based on taking advantage of the weak. This is just a mirror of the rich and powerful of a unjust social structure. It will not stop until Thailand transforms itself into a viable, democratic, uncorrupted country. Which is a long way coming.

In what way is Thailand distinctive in taking advantage of the weak within an unjust social structure ?

A neat definition of capitalism the world over - never seen the abject poverty in the USA, UK, France, Italy....etc etc.?

[cup-O-coffee]

My comments below are more or less sarcastic, and a bit of my personal views. I do believe, however, that in the changing world we face, that there will be many things to come that will challenge the views of religious-oriented individuals, and self-made do-gooders; both of whom I have no quarrel with, yet I feel they are performing an exercise in futility against a population issue that will only grow in the consciousness of people over time.

Some people worry about population. Some people worry about the morals and ethics of it (as a distraction?), and a very few powerful people use that population as a means to an end.

Human trafficking is a trillion dollar a year industry. It is very visible. The law knows about it. Their apathy is the telltale sign. This is not a monster that any one man or woman can stop, and personally, I do not blame them. I would not want to disappear, nor have my family disappear and have the media hide the story. It would take an army of soldiers, and a hit on every top leader of these groups. But then, that would mean that many countries would be leaderless - shooting one's self in the foot so to speak.

People are viewed by many as a resource of inexpensive, disposable, bio-friendly energy, in a world where the new war is for energy. Some want to get rid of them (a.k.a. eugenics), because these kinds of people believe that non-productive people are a virus to the world's survival. Other kinds of people want to use these people until they have no more value, and they simply laugh while counting the currency that their easily disposable, and easily replaceable slaves make for them. Sad, but true. Either way, "Lose 'em, or Use 'em and then Lose 'em" seems to be the intent of a lot of very powerful individuals intent on saving their planet. The idealists are the ones who muck up this clear, plausible truth with their cries of humanity. The idealists are the ones who cloud the way for others to see where this is all going. The practicality of it is pure science. The horror of it is a personal issue that one must choose to accept, or live in fear with. Those in denial are of no use to the certainty of overpopulation and how it is being dealt with.

We used to get paid a fair wage to work. Now our jobs are going overseas to those who do the same for less. AT the end of the day, the goals of the Big Corporations are no different than the goals of the traffickers; make a buck using humans as an inexpensive, easily replaceable and disposable resource. Having money or the right parents seems to get one a ticket out of this direction we seem to be heading in.

Maybe if we stop calling it human trafficking, as if it were some sort of illegal thing, and look at it the same way that governments and big money people look at it, we would see that maybe naming it human resourcing would be a more apt name. After all, the industry grows right under the noses of governments, and I cannot accept that these people, with their state of the art intelligence technology cannot know who the so-called criminals are. Maybe we should view this thing as a model example of what the world could very well be like in 50 or 100 years. The slave class and their lords.

I understand that this sounds blunt, but the fact that this happens, and that its growth rate increases annually, makes one wonder where the dividing line exists between those who say they wish an end to this, and those who perpetuate its existence and growth; possibly as a means to an end, or a schematic to a future reality for our children?

The irony that sickens me is that no one seems to mind the squalor and disgusting environment that billions currently live their lives in, but when it comes to these people being used in another fashion that go against so-called religious and moral values, we all get upset about it.

Are the ones empowered to stop this, and the ones who perpetuate it so intertwined as to be indistinguishable the closer that one gets to that dividing line?

Edited August 9, 2010 by cup-O-coffee

[old wanderer]

Some 18 years ago, I had a home and GF outside of Sukothai. One day I was riding my motorcycle down a rural dirt road and came across a young girl running from an older Thai man with a stick. As I came up on them, he hit her across the back and the side of the head...I skidded to a stop asker her if this was her father, and kicked his butt pretty good.

Took the girl home. Found out in talking that her family had accepted 15,000 baht for her to work as a maid for this man for a year. He tried to rape her as soon as they arrived at his home, and this is what started the running that I came across.

We offered to take her home, but she told us her family would have to give back the money, and would beat her, and make her go back to work. She was 16. She stayed and worked for us for almost a year, then ended up with a Thai BF and left.

I truly feel so sorry for young girls that find themselves sold by friends or family into these situations. I feel a little vigilante justice is warranted. I have gelded lots of horses in my life, and would not hesitate to do so to someone I was sure that was in this business.

[mark45y]

Some 18 years ago, I had a home and GF outside of Sukothai. One day I was riding my motorcycle down a rural dirt road and came across a young girl running from an older Thai man with a stick. As I came up on them, he hit her across the back and the side of the head...I skidded to a stop asker her if this was her father, and kicked his butt pretty good.

Took the girl home. Found out in talking that her family had accepted 15,000 baht for her to work as a maid for this man for a year. He tried to rape her as soon as they arrived at his home, and this is what started the running that I came across.

We offered to take her home, but she told us her family would have to give back the money, and would beat her, and make her go back to work. She was 16. She stayed and worked for us for almost a year, then ended up with a Thai BF and left.

I truly feel so sorry for young girls that find themselves sold by friends or family into these situations. I feel a little vigilante justice is warranted. I have gelded lots of horses in my life, and would not hesitate to do so to someone I was sure that was in this business.

OK, back to reality here. You are saying every time you are out riding your bike and see a Thai guy beating a younger woman you should stop and ask him why.

And if that is not what you are saying what is the point of your post?

[cup-O-coffee]

I sympathize with old wanderer. He was at a moment in time that prompted him, for whatever reason, to intervene. I cannot say I disagree with his method.

What I am thankful for is that there were no Thai men in the area to witness his gallantry, as I am sure that he would have been lucky to escape with his life.

If I may be so bold, it is my view that the point of his post is the thing that old wanderer did is what all good and decent humans wish they could do in times like this; and not suffer pain, damage, or death at the hands of the native onlookers. These same onlookers, who, in my opinion - and being witness to - would certainly descend upon the gallant farang and really put a number on him. I speak of these beasts, who are the inhabitants of this girl's village, and who are more than likely fully aware of the transaction that condemned this girl; yet they, too, went along with it, and did not intervene with a more compassionate and reasonable solution. Thais know the hearts of their neighbors, and experience tells me that they are remiss if they do not report every single thing about another perosn they know to all who will listen to them. I am certain they knew this man's intentions and motives. Yet they let it transpire without intervention!

I took personal joy in reading his retelling of what I would like to see more of, when circumstances of this nature occur. Namely, a man who abuses a woman because she willfully resists his advances, and then, because that man cannot control his behavior and acts like a feral animal, he gets his brains beat senseless by a decent and courageous fellow human being; a stranger who, perhaps in the memory of this girl will forever be an angel. That is only my view.

On the other hand, the fact that the same man spoke to the beasts who sold their daughter into this sort of behavior, and who more than likely understood the results of their actions, should also have been tied to a post and lashed until their backsides were raw.

I trust that the girl was not running in the direction of her mother and father, and that makes his story very sobering food for thought.

Posters here in TV frequently commend the efforts of human rights orgs that we all know cannot possibly solve the problems that they strive towards solving. Yet they get commended. I believe that what this old wanderer did is, in essence, more noble than these groups who could do more, yet do not, and instead treat the symptoms and spend a lot of their grants on frivolous gluttony.

Old wanderer demonstrated the cure. He did not treat the symptom. He could not have gone the distance and demonstrated justice to all who created this girl's hel_l. Yet still, I commend what little good he did.It is sad when a stranger's sense of morals compels him or her to intervene on behalf of a human who is faced with degradation and abuse at the hands of the ones she should be able to entreat for justice; and instead gets condemnation; all in the name of karma.